Page 58 of The Nanny is Off Limits

He nods before he turns my doorknob and slowly peaks his head out of the door. I look after him, breathing a sigh of relief when I don’t see anyone in the direct line of sight in the hallway. He turns back once to look at me and gives me a nod before he moves down the hall slowly and quietly. A few seconds later, I hear the gentle click of his bedroom door.

Iwash my face and brush my teeth quickly, after checking my phone where I see a message from Margot telling me she was coming home early and that she was finebut that is absolutely not fine. I’m up the stairs moving toward Margot’s room, surprised to find the door open, and only then do I remember that Isla and Sabrina were in her room. Margot doesn’t usually mind when Isla sleeps in there when she is gone, so I doubt she’s mad but I also don’t know what kind of mood Margot is in right now. When I move inside, I see Isla and Sabrina with sleepy eyes collecting their blankets and stuffed animals and moving off of Margot’s bed.

“Hi, Daddy.” Isla yawns as she sleepily pads by me with Sabrina in tow.

“Hi, Princess.” I smile at her. “You need help?”

She shakes her head and I watch as they move to Isla’s room down the hall.

Margot is in her ensuite bathroom so I walk through her room and knock on her door. “Margot, honey. Are you okay?”

I hear a tiny yelp and then Margot opens the door, her eyes wide and unblinking. “Yeah, Dad, I’m fine.”

“Then,whatmay I ask, are you doing here at almost two in the morning when you were supposed to be staying at your friend’s house?” I cross my arms over my chest, my previous worry slowly morphing into anger at the thought of her driving this late at night by herself. “You know I don’t like that. Your curfew is midnight, it does not matter whose house you are staying at that night.”

“I know,” she says, her eyes welling up with tears. “I just wanted to come home.”

“Why?”

“Mel and I got in a fight and…I just wanted to go.”

“She’s your best friend and you have gotten into arguments before and did not need to come home. Try again.”

“Dad? Can you not? I got home safe…”

“Not the point. Mel lives a good fifteen minutes from here.” I take a step closer to her and lower myself to look her in the eye. “Are you under the influence of anything?” I ask her, knowing that alcohol has the power to exacerbate even the silliest argument between friends. She shakes her head slowly and I narrow my eyes at her. “Breathe.”

Her eyebrows pinch together angrily. “What? You don’t believe me? Since when do I lie?”

“Oh, so you don’t drink when you’re at your friend’s house?”

She tilts her head to the side. “Are you asking?” The sass is evident in her voice and I am not in the mood for it.

“Margot Juliette,” I warn her.

“Oh my God.” Her tone is full of exasperation as she moves away from me and starts moving her pillows around on her bed and throwing a few of her decorative ones on the couch in the corner of her room. “Yes, I’ve tried alcohol at friends’ houses and parties, but I didn’t tonight. I wouldn’t have driven if I had.”

I’m inclined to believe her but I’m still not buying everything she’s trying to sell. “I don’t care if you and Mel got into an argument. You cannot be out driving around at this hour, especially without talking to me. You know better.”

“I texted you.”

“I didn’t respond. That doesn’t count and you know it doesn’t.” I point at her. I tried my best not to be unreasonable about her driving, but given what happened to their mother I am never more anxious than when she is behind the wheel. So naturally, I am worked up about her doing anything this late at night without talking to me first.

“Okay…I figured you were just caught up working. You’re a light sleeper and I know you sleep with your phone on loud, so I assumed even if you were asleep, my message would have woken you up, but then I went to your office when I got here and you weren’t there.”

“Yeah, I…I was asleep,” I tell her. “You should have called.”Not that I would have heard that either,I think, annoyed with myself for not having my phone close by. “Or called Elianna,” I add after.

“Sorry.” She shrugs, and call it a father’s intuition, but I feel like there’s a lot more to this story than she’s letting on.

“Can you and Mel work it out?” I ask her and she shrugs again. I raise an eyebrow at her because she knows that’s not going to fly.

“Probably.” She climbs onto her bed and lays down before turning on Netflix. “Can we finish this tomorrow? I’m so tired.”

“Fine.” I turn toward the door. “You know you can talk to me if something is bothering you, right?” I tell her and she nods without looking at me.

“Sure, Dad,” she says. “Close my door, please.”

I shut the door behind me, confused by Margot’s behavior, when I come face to face with SJ. “And now why areyouup?!” I look at him and he rolls his eyes.

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